1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand-held tools for use in performing piercing and scraping functions. In particular, the present invention relates to a hand-held tool that can be used to pierce blister-type packages and sealed bottle caps, and that can also be used to scrape away labels and grime from surfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common in the pharmaceutical industry to package individual pills in blister-type packaging as an alternative to bottle-type bulk packaging. However, some individuals have difficulty opening such blister-type packages to remove the pills therefrom using only their fingers. These individuals often struggle with pushing their finger or thumbnails into the foil of the blister-type packages, or pressing the blister of the packaging until the pills themselves push through the foil. To solve this problem, such individuals often resort to using common household utensils, such as knives or other pointed objects, to aid in piercing the blister-type packages.
However, when knives are used to pierce through a blister-type package or bottle seal, the knife can be awkward and dangerous to handle. A metal knife can also leave scratch marks when using the knife as a scraper to remove adhesive labels, grime or other materials from a surface. Also, in order to maintain control of a knife being used for these purposes, the user is sometimes tempted to grasp the blade of the knife to reduce the distance to the work being performed. While this does increase the control of the knife blade while trying to open or scrape something, it is also more dangerous.
Thumbnails are also sometimes employed to accomplish piercing and scraping tasks with varying degrees of success. Depending on the nature of the work or how much such work is done, this can be quite abusive to the thumbnail.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a need for an improved hand-held tool for performing piercing and scraping functions while maintaining precise control, to avoid having to use a knife or thumbnail.